How to Choose Network Patch Lan Cord Cable?

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This article will analyze the patch cord cable channel, patch cord cable raw material material and production process, etc., to provide a reference for users to choose the network patch cord correctly.

As the market, products, construction, etc. are becoming more and more mature, the integrated wiring system has higher and higher requirements for link performance. Many projects adopt the performance test method of permanent link for acceptance, and the permanent link test does not include equipment lan patch cord. And user lan patch cable.

Therefore, the quality of the patch cord cable is often overlooked. In fact, the problem caused by the quality of the network patch cord affects the performance of the entire channel.

Just like the well-known wooden barrel short board effect, no matter how good the link performance is, it will also affect the channel performance due to the poor quality of the lan patch cord, which in turn affects the transmission efficiency and stability of the network.

Melontel can provide you with many different styles of lan patch cable. Such as HDMI patch cord, network patch cord, lan patch cord, fiber optic patch cord, patch cord cable, etc. Melontel is a TUV certified factory with 27 years of production experience, high-quality patch cord cable can provide a strong guarantee for your network construction.

Usually the lan patch cord used by the local area network LAN mainly comes from three channels:

(1) The matching lan patch cord of the same brand as the overall link product.

(2) On-site production of lan patch cord.

(3) Buy lan patch cable in the computer market.

In addition to the professional test of the manufacturer for the matching lan patch cable, it is difficult for ordinary users to know the quality of the lan patch cable produced on site or purchased in the market.

The unqualified lan patch cord will seriously affect the network transmission efficiency and network stability, and the counterfeit and shoddy products will even cause irreversible damage to the connected hardware (computer or switch interface), causing the entire System crashes.

Next, we compare the patch cord cable conditions of these three channels from several aspects, and analyze the comparison results from the structure, production process and materials of various network patch cords.

The lan patch cord structure is mainly composed of three aspects: lan patch cord cable conductor, crystal head, and protective sleeve. Let us first take a more intuitive look at the physical comparison of the finished lan patch cable and the on-site lan patch cable.

(1) Brand finished patch cord cable: The standard requires that the cable conductor for making the finished patch cord cable is AWG26 (7/0.16mm) or AWG24 (7/0.20mm) bare soft copper stranded wire.

The cable of this structure is relatively soft and flexible, which ensures that the network patch cord is very convenient during use.

At the same time, because it is a stranded copper wire, it is easier to manage the wire on site. Select lan patch cord unit test with FLUKE, the performance margin of RL and NEXT exceeds TIA/ETA 568B standard before leaving the factory.

Since the finished lan patch cable belongs to the same brand as the network cable and connecting hardware, it is easier to keep the characteristic impedance of the entire channel consistent, so as to obtain the ideal RL value.

(2) On-site production of patch cord cable: The cables used for the production of network patch cords on site are generally the remaining fractional lines of horizontal wiring.

The conductor structure of the horizontal cable is a solid core conductor. Cat.5e uses AWG24 (1/0.511mm), and Cat.6 uses AWG23 (1/0.574mm) bare soft copper single wire.

The cable of this structure is relatively hard and has poor flexibility, making it difficult to manage the cable on site.

In addition, because the crystal head installed on site is crimped with a simple hand crimping tool, the crimping reliability of the crystal head gold piece and the solid core conductor has a great relationship with the operation of the crimping personnel. The performance of the patch cord cable produced on site, Using FLUKE to select network patch cord monomer test, the performance of RL and NEXT varies greatly, and the reliability of mechanical connection points is obviously worse than that of brand finished lan patch cord.

(3) Market-purchased lan patch cable: Due to the variety of channels for market-purchased patch cord cables, users who do not know much about network patch cord products may even purchase lan patch cords produced on site, even if they purchase brand lan patch cords cable, it may also be fake.

The author once found at a project site that the patch cord cable used by the customer for testing is a 5/0.16mm stranded aluminum wire, and the network patch cord is identified as a product of a well-known brand. Using FLUKE to select the network patch cord unit test, the performance margins of RL and NEXT are almost all less than -10.0dB, which are obviously fake and inferior products, and this is also a problem that is easy to encounter when purchasing in the general market.

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To meet the performance of the lan patch cable specified in the TIA/EIA 568B.2 standard, high-quality raw materials must be used. The raw materials involved in patch cord cable include patch cord cable and crystal head.

(1) lan patch cord cable: the conductor is made of oxygen-free round copper rod, the resistivity is less than 0.017241; the insulation is HDPE, and the better brand is UCC3364, etc.

Generally, the matching patch cord cable and the on-site network patch cord can meet the requirements in terms of materials, but the patch cord cable purchased in the market is difficult to guarantee.

The material cost of some inferior network patch cords on the market is very low, and the performance can only ensure conduction. Mainly reflected as: conductor: the lan patch cord purchased in the market may be made of aluminum, or it may be of inferior copper. Such conductors have high resistivity and poor ductility.

Insulation: The better ones may use general HDPE insulating materials, and the worse ones may use recycled materials. The dielectric constant of these materials is unstable and the elongation is small. In addition to the lack of electrical performance, this type of patch cord cable also has the disadvantages of short life and poor reliability.

(2) Crystal head: The metal sheet substrate of RJ45 connector (crystal head) is mainly made of phosphor bronze plated with nickel and then plated with gold. Generally, the thickness of gold plating is 30μ”, 50μ”, and the thickness of gold-plated layer of type 6 crystal head is generally 50μ” ( 1.27μm), the performance of the crystal head is required to be plugged and unplugged more than 750 times without degradation;

The plastic shell is PC, in line with UL-94-V0, and the crystal head shrapnel is required to be plugged and unplugged for more than 750 times without breaking.

The metal sheet, gold-plated layer and plastic shell material of the matching brand finished network patch cord crystal head have been tested in the factory according to the standard, which can ensure the mechanical and electrical performance requirements of the product.

If the crystal heads used in the on-site production of lan patch cords come from original products, the quality can also be guaranteed. If the crystal heads are purchased in the market, the mechanical, electrical and fire performance of the material cannot be guaranteed.

Let’s compare the two crystal heads: Sample A is a product provided by a supporting manufacturer, and Sample B is a product of an international well-known brand purchased in the market.

Sample A (left) metal flake color is dull, close to gold;

Sample B (right) metal sheet is brighter in color, similar to brass (there are obvious spots on the surface of the metal sheet);

The plastic shell of sample A is transparent and uniform, and the sample B is transparent and white with fine cracks.

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Before introducing the lan patch cable production process, let’s understand two parameters related to the lan patch cable:

H: The burial depth of the crystal head gold piece (the distance from the end face of the metal piece to the shrapnel), according to the FCC specification, the crystal head gold piece buried depth range is 5.89~6.15mm.

D: The width of the crystal head partition, the FCC specification provides a reference value of 0.56mm. At present, the regular manufacturers generally control the width between 0.55~0.65mm (the metal pin width of the module terminals on the market is generally controlled at 0.42~0.50mm).

In the production process of the matching patch cord cable, the crystal head is automatically crimped by machine equipment, and the tail sleeve is injection-molded at one time. The equipment is automatically crimped to ensure that after the metal sheet of the crystal head is crimped, the embedded depth meets the requirements of FCC regulations.

Injection-molded boots increase network patch cord crimp reliability, improve compliance stability, and provide longer life.

On-site lan patch cords generally use simple crimping tools and do not use any boots for protection.

This method of crimping is difficult to ensure that the embedded depth of the sheet meets the requirements, and it is impossible to ensure a good and uniform mechanical pressing force. In addition, because there is no tail sleeve protection, the lan patch cable is easy to connect the copper cable during use. Pulled out from the crystal head or open circuit due to poor contact, the stability and life of this patch cord cable are relatively poor.

The manufacturing process of the patch cord cable purchased in the market is different. The gold piece may be mechanically crimped or other methods, and the tail sleeve is generally injection molded at one time. The service life of the network patch cord purchased in the market is not determined by the reliability of the crimping part, but mainly by the material of the product.

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After the project is over, IT personnel sometimes have to purchase patch cord cables or crystal heads when maintaining the computer room. Here are some suggestions for your reference.

(1) Purchase crystal head

Look at the appearance: the metal sheet of the crystal head is bright and free of oxidation spots; the partitions are even and free of burrs; the crystal head is transparent and colorless as a whole.

(2) Purchase finished network patch cord

The purchase of finished lan patch cord requires the same process as the purchase of crystal heads, but also requires a simple verification of the lan patch cable and process.

Summarized into three steps based on experience:

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Watch at the end face of the patch cord cable crystal head, if the cable conductor is silver-white, the conductor is made of aluminum or even iron wire (inferior product);

If the end face cable conductor is golden yellow, the conductor is copper (probably good). Looking at the cable itself, the surface of some cables is very smooth without any lines. It may be that the pitch of the cable is very large and the outer diameter of the insulation is relatively small. This product has poor performance (it may be an inferior product);

Some cables have regular threads on the surface. This pattern is caused by the small twisting pitch of the cable pairs and the tight outer sheath of the cable (may be a qualified product).

Touch the cable for tightness. Some cables feel very loose, and you can’t even feel the insulating core wire inside the outer cover. Bend the cable nearly 180°, and the outer cover is almost flat (basically inferior products). );

Some cables are very tight to the touch and are bent nearly 90°, the twist distance of the pair can be clearly seen, and the outer protection is basically kept round (basically a qualified product).

After the above steps, unfold a lan patch cable, and then rewind it in the original direction, but do not tie the cable ties.

If the network patch cord can be kept flat on the desktop, the quality of the lan patch cord is better; if the lan patch cord cannot be kept flat, the quality of the lan patch cable is poor.

Comprehensive analysis, when purchasing finished patch cord cables, in order to purchase qualified products, it can be judged from the following aspects:

(1) Observe the end face of the crystal head, the conductor is golden yellow (copper conductor);

The surface of the crystal head is smooth without burrs, the size of the partitions is uniform, and the overall appearance is transparent without cracks.

(2) Regular lines can be seen on the surface of the cable (the twisting pitch of the cable is small), the cable is tightly squeezed by hand, and the twisting distance of the cable can be clearly seen when it is bent at about 90°, and the cable is still basically round. all.

(3) The crystal head shrapnel is bent 2~3 times at 180°, and there is no cracking or whitening at the bending point.

(4) Unfold the packaged patch cord cable, and then rewind the patch cord cable in the original direction. It can be kept flat on the table without tying the cable ties.

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Because the current wiring projects in the industry use the permanent link test method as the basis for project handover, which leads to the neglect of management of the equipment network patch cord and user lan patch cord. According to the above analysis, under normal circumstances, the original factory The quality of the supporting brand lan patch cable is guaranteed, and it is also within the warranty scope of the overall system.

As a designer, it is recommended that the number of brand patch cord cables be taken into account when configuring system materials to ensure the performance of the overall system. As the user side, the investment in the overall high-quality permanent link cabling system has accounted for more than 80% of the overall cabling. In order to reduce costs, if on-site production of lan patch cables or counterfeit patch cord cables purchased in the market is used, it will cause network stability and transmission performance. A drop would be more than worth the loss.